Quote:
Originally Posted by Maki
Thats from an era when Pontiacs were Pontiacs,and not ugly Chevy rebadges. If platform sharing with Holden should be considered an insult to fans,then by all means a Chevy rebadge would be an even greater insult. Pontiac lost it's purpose ever since it became a Chevy with a nose job. Gm should restore some uniqueness to the brand.
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I agree to an extent, but Pontiacs for most of the brand's history, have never been
fundamentally different from Chevrolets. Sure there were the odd models here and there that packed a few more ponies than their Chevy cousins, and at least in my opinion Pontiacs led in styling in the '60s. Pontiac's "sporty" image was as much the product of Madison Avenue genius as it was anything emanating from GM.
I mean honestly, even in the '60s, there wasn't much "sporty" about a hulking BOF boulevard cruiser with drum brakes, sloppy steering, and bench seats. I love those old Ponchos but there wasn't a shred of anything sporty about them except their image. Look at what Jaguar and Alfa Romeo were doing at the time and you realise just how crude Pontiacs were. They were simply very attractive cars with a "rebel" image that struck a chord with rebellious 1960s youth. By the '73 oil shock, Pontiac was back where it was pre-Knudsen, and it's been there ever since.
All this vaunted "Pontiac heritage" is viewed by fans through rather rosy glasses. The truth is, when Pontiac reached its peak in the mid-to-late '60s, nearly
every car on the market was stylish and powerful, Pontiacs are simply the most memorable of that era, probably because it so iconoclastically represented that period.
It's baffling why so many fans keep harking on this "
Pontiac should be GM's performance brand" mantra. How does one define "performance" today, when many V6-powered midsize family haulers can do 0-60 times that put even some respected old muscle cars to shame?
"Performance" can't cut it as a unique selling point, just as "quirky" won't save Saab. And "performance" might be very difficult to sell in a world of $150/barrel oil.
I contend we all quit beating the "performance" dead horse, and think of another, more feasible, theme to identify Pontiac with (and no.... not "car"!)
Just like "rebel" almost encapsulated the Pontiac image of the '60s in one word, today we need a similar word or short phrase that can both hark back to the brand's heyday, yet tie in with today's market expectations.
I believe that "rebel" spirit is the only thing that can save Pontiac. But it needs to be "rebel" in today's, not 1967's, mindset. That can only be accomplished through "out the box" approaches in styling and engineering.
If any of you think shoehorning a huge engine into a boring sedan will save Pontiac, I've got some plastic cladding I'd like to sell you...